May 22, 2006

Giant Douche vs. Turd Sandwich, Cont'd

Apparently, according to the Michael Wilbon chat today, two of the least likable people in sports media- Stephen A. Smith and Phil Mushnick- are feuding. A reader asked Wilbon:

Would you rather discuss the state of sports in America at a bar with Phil Mushnick of the NY Post, or Stephen Smith of Philly? What do you think of Mushnick pointing out Smith's reckless reporting, and Smith's response to that criticism by calling Mushnick a racist?

First of all, calling Smith "of Philly" is a bit of a misnomer, considering he spends five days a week hosting both television and radio shows from New York, and I highly doubt he's set foot in the Inquirer newsroom in months.

At any rate, both reporters have narrow gimmicks: Smith yells, as loud as he can, about every topic regardless of whether he knows anything about it, while Mushnick, more simply, hates everyone and everything about modern-day sports. I suppose it was inevitable that the two would clash.

Mushnick, according to Deadspin, wrote that "Could it be that Smith’s urban street-hip brotha yak — which he seems able to turn on and off with the drop of a Kangol — is supposed to appeal/pander to young, urban, street-talkin’ sports fans?" Now there are clearly many, many things to go after with Smith, but please, leave his race out of it. I'm with Can't Stop the Bleeding on this:

That Stephen A. is very often, Full Of Shit For A Living, is not something I wish to dispute. But the Mushminded One would have you believe that that Smith’s spiel requires a Jive Translator ala “Airplane”. Which isn’t just an exaggeration, it’s a full-fledged slur.